Disruptions of Daily Life

M. Mitchell Arthur

Description

Disruptions of Daily Life explores the mass media landscape of early twentieth century in order to uncover the subversive societal impact of four major Japanese authors: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, Yokomitsu Riichi, Kawabata Yasunari, and Hirabayashi Taiko. Arthur Mitchell examines this literature against global realities through a modernist lens, studying an alternative modernism that challenges the Western European model.Through broad surveys of discussions surrounding Japanese life in the 1920s, Mitchell locates and examines flourishing divergent ideologies of the early twentieth century such as gender, ethnicity, and nationalism. He unravels how the narrative and linguistic strategies of modernist texts interrogated the innocence of this language, disrupting their hold on people's imagined relationship to daily life. These modernist works often discursively displaced the authority of their own claims by inadvertently exposing the global epistemology of East vs. West. Mitchell's reading of these formalist texts expands modernism studies into a more translational dialogue by locating subversions within the local historical culture and allowing readers to make connections to the time and place in which the texts were written. In highlighting the unbreakable link between literature and society, Disruptions of Daily Life reaffirms the value of modernist fiction and its ability to make us aware of how realities are constructed-and how those realities can be changed.

Sujets

• History of Asia
• Japan

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501752933
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

DISRUPTIONS OF DAILY LIFE

Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University

The Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University were inaugurated in 1962 to bring to a wider public the results of significant new research on modern and contemporary East Asia.

DISRUPTIONS OF DAILY LIFE Japanese Literary Modernism in the World

Arthur M. Mitchell

CORNELL EAST ASIA SERIES AN IMPRINT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2020 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2020 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: Mitchell, Arthur M., author. Title: Disruptions of daily life : Japanese literary modernism in the world / Arthur M. Mitchell. Identifiers: LCCN 2020011026 (print) | LCCN 2020011027 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501752919 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501752926 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501752933 (pdf) Subjects:LCSH:Japaneseliterature—Taish¯operiod,1912–1926—History and criticism. | Japanese literature—Sho¯ wa period, 1926–1989—History and criticism. | Modernism (Literature)—Japan. | Literature and society— Japan—History—20th century. Classification: LCC PL747.57.M577 M58 2020 (print) | LCC PL747.57.M577 (ebook) | DDC 895.609/112—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011026 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011027

Number 202 in the Cornell East Asia Series

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Shattering the Status Quo: Reading Modernism in the Early Twentieth Century

1.  Fetishism of the West in Tanizaki Jun’ichiro¯’s A Fool’s Love 2.  Subversions of Ethnicity in Yokomitsu Riichi’s NeoSensationist Writings 3.  Kawabata Yasunari’sThe Scarlet Gang of Asakusa and the Narrative of the Present 4.  “Love” and (Male) Subjectivity in Hirabayashi Taiko’s “In the Charity Ward” Coda: Against the National Literary Narrative

Bibliography Index

vii

1

52

100

154

192

238

249 255

Acknowledgments

The finished book, complete with hard binding and glossy cover, has a way of concealing how arduous and at times tenuous the long enterprise has been. I want to acknowledge all those who have fueled my fire and guided my journey as well those who have offered the warmth of their help, support, and compan ionship along the way. My gratitude goes first to Christopher Hill whose courses on history and lit erature expanded my literary and political imagination, introducing a historical consciousness and an ethical imperative to my literary readings. This book was inspired by his many teachings and would not have been possible without his genial guidance and sage counsel. I also owe more than I know to John Treat who taught me that scholarship is not just an intellectual enterprise but a selfsearch. He helped me learn to trust myself, have faith in my own instincts, and to have the courage to take big swings. In Japan, Toeda Hirokazu was unbelievably gener ous and unceasingly gracious with his time, his mentorship, and his friendship. I am eternally grateful. I have been extremely fortunate to receive institutional support for my stud ies. The dissertation research from which this book emerged was conducted with grants from the Japan Foundation and the Yale University Council on East Asian Studies, and the final manuscript was completed while on a sabbatical leave sup ported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Social Science Research Council, and Macalester College. The final phase of publication was aided by a Wallace Grant from Macalester College. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Waseda University for hosting many years of my research and in particular to the Waseda Central Library. Their archive of periodicals laid out in open stacks was my scholarly sandbox for several years and the kindness of their dedicated librarians were for countless months a daily encouragement. Several people had a direct impact on this book. Seiji Lippit and William Gardner were there at the ground floor and their early guidance helped me chart my course and set sail. Their monographs on Japanese modernism paved the way for me to say everything I have said on the subject. Pericles Lewis believed in my work and gave me the confidence to take on such a big topic. Edward Kamens invited me into the field itself and gave me my foundation in Japanese literary analysis. I would like to thank Mai ShaikhanuarCota and Alexis Siemon, my editors at Cornell University Press, for their care and commitment to this

vii

viiiACKNOWLEDGMENTS

manuscript, and Ross Yelsey, formerly at the Columbia University Weatherhead East Asia Institute, for recognizing the book and helping it take its first steps into the world of publication. I would also like to thank Paul Anderer for believ ing in my work and helping me get the publication process started. For their invaluable feedback on different sections of the book, I would like to thank Reiko Abe Auestad, David Blainey, Jim Dorsey, Aaron Gerow, Rivi HandlerSpitz, Reto Hofmann, Inoue Ken, Kate Nakai, Haruko Nakamura, Chelsea Scheider, Angela Yiu, and the anonymous readers for WEAI and CUP. For their conversation and invaluable friendship during these years, I would  like to particularly thank, Will Bridges, John Graves, Kendall Heitzman, Shuntaro  Kishikawa, Christine Marran, Mariko Naito, Yasufumi Nakamori, Patrick Noonan, Marcos Ortega, Parker Smathers, Luciana Sanga, Brian Steininger, Ellen   Tilton, Daniel Williams, Naoki Yamamoto, Shoichiro Yamashita, and the mem bers of La Fondation. And for their essential encouragement and mentorship, or for simply providing a warm family table, I would like to thank, Barbara Bassous, Ernie Bassous, Steve Focios, Satoshi Hamaya, Rashed Judeh, Mutsuko McIlroy, Robert McIlroy, Masato Ogura, John Reinartz, Satoko Suzuki, and Michiko Yoshida. Finally, I want thank my parents, my sisters, Sono and Kano, and Ella for her love and her marvelous meals. This book is very much about the vital importance of literary art. For feeding  this faith in me I would like to thank James Shea, Tracy Dahlby, Ai Kudo, and Marie Focios. I dedicate this book to my father, who taught me how to think and introduced me to the world.

DISRUPTIONS OF DAILY LIFE